Date: January 11, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 35
“Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.” (2Sam 13:2NIV)
Why did Amnon, the first child of David, end up raping his half-sister, Tamar? It was because he refused to destroy the evil thought of having something with her that had possessed him. Was it his fault that this evil desire came to him? Not necessarily so! But not handling the evil desire and allowing himself to be possessed by it was entirely his fault.
According to the bible, we don’t have to do anything bad or wrong for evil thoughts to come to us. That is because the origin of every thought is the devil. Remember that, even right after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was still confronted by the devil with the thought of committing suicide. In fact, this evil thought was even supported by him with Scriptures. And if Jesus had not been sound enough in the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that He was able to demolish the evil thought, His ministry would have ended before it started. (Cf. Matt 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12)
So, whether we like it or not, we cannot escape being confronted with evil thoughts, desires and passions, as long as we are in this world. Yes, putting ourselves in certain conditions or relationships may expose us more readily or frequently to evil thoughts, desires or passions. But the word of God already makes it clear that regardless of where we are in this world, even if it is a monastery, evil thoughts will still locate us. That is because they are being sent by the devil and his demons to make war against our souls. (Cf. 1Pet 2:11)
Since this, then, is the case, it is on us to be determined to say ‘No’ to any evil thought, passion or desire that comes to us and to, in fact, destroy it. The word of God says:
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:4-5NIV)
Did you see that? As children of God, we have access to His divine power and provisions to demolish any satanic stronghold. And what strongholds are we talking about? As we see in the text, these strongholds are not witches, wizards or even demons; rather, they are thoughts. Yes, they are arguments and pretensions that are standing against the truth of God in our minds. In other words, we are taking about thoughts, desires, passions and philosophies that are contrary to the righteousness of God and that can be built up in our lives as fortresses of protection for evil behaviours.
Now what is our instruction about them? It is that we are to demolish them. We must not allow them to grow in us, not to talk of take us captive to do evil. But if we refuse to destroy them, if we are making excuses for them and giving them room to possess us, it won’t be long before they drive us to do the unthinkable and foolish. Then we may find ourselves, like Amnon, corrupting those that we are supposed to protect their purity or, like Judas Iscariot, betraying those we are supposed to honour and protect.
So, be determined to destroy every evil thought, desire or passion that Satan may send to war against your soul. Otherwise, it will ultimately destroy you and perhaps all that is dear to you as well, if you are not shown mercy. But will you be able to do this, if you cannot distinguish between thoughts that are contrary to God’s righteousness and the ones that are not? You won’t.
All of this is why you, like our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be sound in the word of God. You need to continually give yourself to reading, studying and meditating on His word. That way, you will be able to recognise even those wicked thoughts of the devil that appear righteous and legitimate and destroy them before they have any chance of hurting you.
Also, you need to give yourself to praying without ceasing, especially to be strengthened by God within. Otherwise, you will know what thoughts you must reject but may not have the strengthen to say ‘No’ to them. Then the Scripture will be true concerning you that says, “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” And may that not be your experience in any area of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Cheers!